Blue Jackets Face a Messy Offseason After Marchenko Joins Werenski in Sending Signals

The Columbus Blue Jackets were already staring down a long summer. Then Kirill Marchenko decided to make it longer.

ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reported Friday that Marchenko’s camp has told the team he’s unlikely to re-sign long-term. This comes less than 48 hours after word broke that Zach Werenski, the reigning Norris Trophy winner, isn’t planning to sign an extension in Ohio either.

Werenski and Marchenko are the Blue Jackets’ best defenseman and best forward, respectively. Losing one is bad. Losing both would be something else entirely for a franchise that hasn’t seen the Stanley Cup Playoffs in six years.

The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun added some important context Saturday. Marchenko has not asked for a trade. He’s prepared to play next season in Columbus — and maybe the year after that, since the team controls his restricted free-agent rights through 2027. But the message is clear: he doesn’t want to be around beyond that. And apparently, what’s happening with Werenski helped push him to that decision.

Multiple teams have called about Marchenko, including the Montreal Canadiens. But here’s where it gets tricky. According to LeBrun, Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell has been telling other teams over the last 24 hours that he has no intention of trading the forward this summer. At least not yet.

Marchenko, 25, has one year left on a contract that pays him $3.85 million. He’ll be an RFA next summer. He put up 74 points in 79 games in 2024-25 and followed that with 67 points in 76 games this past season. That’s two years of legitimate top-line production from a guy who’s still on a value deal.

Waddell has made it clear he’s not interested in a futures-only trade. If Werenski or Marchenko get moved, the return will be NHL-ready players. That limits the number of potential trade partners, but it also means Columbus isn’t trying to rebuild from scratch. They’re trying to retool on the fly.

Still, Waddell is going to have to make a call on both players eventually. If he waits too long, their trade value dips. If he moves them now, he’s telling the locker room — and the fanbase — that this thing is going to take longer than anyone hoped.

The Blue Jackets aren’t in a crisis yet. But the next few weeks are going to tell us a lot about where this franchise is actually headed.